F3 Jetting and race fuel

[clemmr211]

Hey Guys,
Long time lurker, frist time poster.  Figured I'd start it off with a tech question.  I want to run race fuel next year and am curious as to what other F3 owners have done.  I want to run one more year with this bike, and am looking for a couple extra, cheap hp. (besides loosing 30lbs..which is in the plan too)  Any suggestions?
Ryan

[tcchin]

What kind of race fuel are you planning to use?

[clemmr211]

I'm open to suggestions.  I spent last winter getting the suspension and chassis set up, I figured this winter I'd work on the motor a little.  I'm looking for help here.
Thanks
Ryan

[tcchin]

Your choice of race fuel will be determined by your budget. Standard leaded race fuels run between four and seven dollars per gallon, whereas the exotics can run upwards of 15 dollars per gallon. This is important because the presence or absence of oxygenates in your fuel of choice will have a measurable effect on jetting. Also, the altitude and ambient conditions of the track at which you plan to race can alter your main jet requirements by as much as four sizes.

Have you made any decisions about which fuel you'd like to use? Also, where do you anticipate racing this bike and in what kind of weather conditions?

[clemmr211]

I haven't decided what fuel I want to use, I've just started reseaching this this week.  I'm just looking for a couple example of what people have done and how's it's worked for them.  I race Mid Atlantic, and will mainly be at VIR, Summit, Pocono, and probably CMP.  The 4-7 dollar range is about what I'm looking to spend.

[Eddie#200]

Any ideas or comments about aviation fuel?

[tcchin]

Aviation fuel is designed to be used in high duty cycle, low-RPM engines at high altitude and low temperatures. As such, its distillation curve is all wrong for a race bike and its use will result in poor performance and sluggish throttle response.

[tcchin]

clemmr211,

I assume you have a 49-state bike with stock cams. Any idea which needles you're running (J6CA, J6CD, J6VB, etc.)? The needle identifier is stamped into the base of the needle just below the circlip groove. Also, I'll need a little more information on the ambient track conditions you anticipate (altitude, temperature and humidity), as I'm not very familiar with those tracks and their climates. This is information is very important. For example, my F3 likes 130/132 mains in July at the Streets of Willow, and 140/142 mains in November at Buttonwillow.

[clemmr211]

Tim,
Jets, right now I don't know, I can check later. It has a Factory Stage I in it, but I know even with that you have a variety of Jets to choose from. The altitudes are all fairly well grounded, I'd say nothing over 1,500 feet (Pocono I think may be around that height).  Summer months at all tracks are hot 80-90's, with Summit and VIR being fairly humid.
Thanks for you responses.
Oh, and yes 49 state with stock Cams.

[tcchin]

I'm not sure what Marc from Factory does with his F3 needles, but if you have the original packaging, you can reference the part numbers for the needles and determine what kind of diameters and tapers the needles have. Unfortunately, without that information, it will be hard to size your main jet using the charts in the Honda Power-Up manual. Of course, if you have access to the Honda kit needles, things would be a lot easier...

[clemmr211]

Is getting access to Honda Kit needles hard?  Like I said, I'm open to suggestions, so if you know of a combination that works really well and doesn't cost a fortune, I would make sure I bought the right hardware.

[tcchin]

I think you can order the needles from an HRC dealer, and maybe even from a regular Honda dealer, using the part number. I can probably come up with this, if you think you'll need it. However, I think something reasonable can still be done with your Factory needles and the HRC jetting charts, provided you can determine the cross-sectional profile of your needles. You may want to try calling Factory Pro to see if they can give you the complete part number for the needles you have, and maybe ask them if they can fax you the setup sheet for that kit.